Reordering Update

[atomicthumbs]

Could we use Western Union to wire the money instead of doing it through the bank? Seems like it would be easier, especially since I have to go to the bank with my mom to do a transfer.

They have an option called "Direct 2 Bank", which is what I'm referring to.

http://westernunion.com

Edit:

Damnit, it's only to banks within the country. :<

 

[PoisonedV]

Bank Transferes aren't a possibility for me... this sucks. hope you find another method- id even be down for paypal.

 

[xaim00]

I was going to pay with credit card, but this changes things. I'm going to look at my options of doing a bank transfer instead. I have full faith in Craig and the team.

Edit: Bank transfer done. The fee was only ~1 GBP, maybe because I'm in the EU.

 

[cbp]

Wasn't one of you original guys from Canada? I think banks here might be more welcoming. You can transfer the cash to UK afterwards.

 

[grydholt]

Opinions, solutions, ideas? I know it's a bastard, let's just try to work though it, some kind of reward for people going the extra mile to pay via a transfer is possible.

I've used this service before and it is reasonably cheap:

http://www.moneybookers.com/



As far as I can read from the website, you can use the service worldwide you'll pay 2.9% for the transfer. 1.9% to upload the funds and 1% to put it into the English bank. Do you think, I am correct in this? I have used moneybookers once to transfer money from France to Denmark without a problem.

Personally, I have decided to pay by Swift since it was only 5 GBP from Denmark. I was going to pay by Credit Card before I saw this topic in order gain the extra credit card safety, but since I am convinced the pandora will be delivered to me, I wanted to help out in this very small way.

Jacob Grydholt

 

[BenTolputt]

I didn't find out about the Pandora until a week before preorders, and never visited these forums before then. Any mention of EvilDragon probably would've triggered MMO flashbacks of bad pickup groups (no offense to your nick, ED ) and I've already reordered by bank transfer. Not trying to start an argument, just pointing out that the outsider perspective is hardly unilateral and that one should not make assumptions about others in the same boat.

Oh, no argument here. But I doubt either of us are the "statistical average" orderer/forum-reader. I know for a fact that there are much more negative people on the forums than I (I am willing to reorder, just with a credit card) and much more "gun-ho" members than yourself (who trash any negatvity rather than try to engage it like you just did).

On to my real point: is it really constructive to start yet another "why I feel my trust is shaken" vs "you knew what you were in for" debate? Especially in this thread in which Craig wants everyone to try and find some solution to the problem? Haven't there been plenty already, in plenty of threads? This doesn't seem like the place nor the time to me.

Well, I disagree (obviously). Craig has basically asked for a substantial number of orders to be made via direct transfer (or similar). I was explaining why some (most?) simply won't make an order without the security of the credit card - where they might for an eBay auction or similar. I wasn't outlining "why I feel my trust is shaken", rather I was stating "I cannot fork over the money because the trust foundation is not there".

I felt giving Craig reasons for my reluctance to part with credit card security was better than simply stating "Hell no - just give me the damn CC order page". You know, engaging the other side of the discussion rather than trashing their opinion/plea. B)

And honestly, I want the damn Pandora!

 

[Chip]

Paypal is just plain not a real option. They are hideously unreliable and arbitrarily lock accounts, as we've already seen. The shipping timeframe has nothing to do with the fact that they're just a bad service. Google Checkout might be an option.

 

[hch]

how about cash on delivery? or is this too much a strain on the developers budget?

 

[mazza558]

Paypal is just plain not a real option. They are hideously unreliable and arbitrarily lock accounts, as we've already seen. The shipping timeframe has nothing to do with the fact that they're just a bad service. Google Checkout might be an option.

I'd prefer Google Checkout to a bank transfer if possible - paying in that way is just a lot less fiddly than any other way.

 

[stustaff]

Heres a suggestion I havent seen anywhere before that seems it would sort most of the problems!(until someone finds a flaw in my plan.

Set yourself up as a trader on amazon marketplace! people can then buy the pandora using Amazons payment systems and the money goes to Amazon, where Craigix can then transfer funds from his amazon trader account to his bank in large lump sums once a day/week etc.

This solution gives buyers poeace of mind as they use credit card and Craigix has low fees I believe it will work out lower than credit card fees.

 

[craigix]

We probably will set up accounts with a few of the suggested alternatives.

Using multiple banks would not work as they want to see a flow of cash of at least 40% not in credit cards, obviously they are no longer prepared to take the risks associated with credit cards - probably due to so many airlines, stores and travel agents going bust.

I did try to explain to them that we don't run a business where people come in and pay us in cash - it's all online - but they don't care.

As for a final unit, the keypad should arrive with Michael today or tomorrow, at which point he can built it and demo it.

Oh and yes we can take Cheques/Checks I assume, unless there is something stopping us taking international cheques.

And yes, it might be possible to push payments via a USA/Canada/Spain account so there is no transfer fee, I'll have a chat with the distributors there.

Thanks to those of you who are going to do the transfer anyway, I don't mind signing all your cases and if people are going to drop out obviously you will have moved up the queue too.

Don't worry - we are not going to be beaten by a bunch of bankers

 

[mali]

Heres a suggestion I havent seen anywhere before that seems it would sort most of the problems!(until someone finds a flaw in my plan.

Set yourself up as a trader on amazon marketplace! people can then buy the pandora using Amazons payment systems and the money goes to Amazon, where Craigix can then transfer funds from his amazon trader account to his bank in large lump sums once a day/week etc.

This solution gives buyers poeace of mind as they use credit card and Craigix has low fees I believe it will work out lower than credit card fees.

Who can guarantee, that Amazon doesn't put it's foot down?
The solution should be safest possible, not another trial and error attempt IMO

 

[DynaMight]

Amazon/Google Checkout maybe an option but I have no idea how it actually works... if they purely work as a medium and actually take no money from the customer directly but just pass on the details to the retailer then its no different...

You could always find out from Paypal how many orders/money they would accept at a certain time and then stagger it into x orders at once then deposit the money each time.

 

[stustaff]

Heres a suggestion I havent seen anywhere before that seems it would sort most of the problems!(until someone finds a flaw in my plan.

Set yourself up as a trader on amazon marketplace! people can then buy the pandora using Amazons payment systems and the money goes to Amazon, where Craigix can then transfer funds from his amazon trader account to his bank in large lump sums once a day/week etc.

This solution gives buyers poeace of mind as they use credit card and Craigix has low fees I believe it will work out lower than credit card fees.

Who can guarantee, that Amazon doesn't put it's foot down?
The solution should be safest possible, not another trial and error attempt IMO


Fair point but apart from bank transfer and cheque all the options have that risk! from what I hear though amazon are one of the better marketplaces and also have a lot of large traders with them who sell hundres and thousands of high cost items. eg TV company who sell £900 TV's and bku ray polayers etc will have large sums going through.

 

[dgame]

Hello everyone,

<snip>

We are willing to discount the bank fee from the Pandora price, as we are charged a fee for accepting credit cards anyway.

Opinions, solutions, ideas? I know it's a bastard, let's just try to work though it, some kind of reward for people going the extra mile to pay via a transfer is possible.

I am in the US. I pre-ordered within the first 20 minutes. I got my refund. If all else fails I would be willing to do a bank transfer minus fees if the unit is shipped soon after I pay this way.

 

[TaG]

What a major bummer for all concerned.

Another Paypal-like service is nochex.com. I have used them on a small scale, but not this size. I did read up extensively at the time and thought it was far better than Paypal - smaller fees, proper 'merchant accounts' and very little negative comments that everybody reads about Paypal - ought to be worth a look craigix.

What we need to find is a solution to this, it looks like we may have to take about 40% of the orders via other means, we are allowed to take the rest via credit cards.
So if there were 3800 pre-orders, 300 drop outs leaving 3500. 40%=1400. If approx 1000 already paid by other methods three should only be 400-500 more transfers required.

That way, UK people are covered by THE LAW, and have the legal protection afforded by it, and Internationals will be covered by ther CC companies.
Just curious, why do you say those in the UK are protected by law? (Obviously if this is a good argument that you can put here it might sway quite a few.)

At this point, rather than reordering by region, can't we figure out a way to take orders from the first 500 orders, then the next 500? So essentially you are only taking money/credit cards from 500 at a time versus all 3800.
I have to say, this sounds like a good solution. If the other quote that 2000 Pandoras are paid for then when, say, 100 Pandoras are ready you can ask for bank transfers for 500+, that way nobody can say they don't know if/when it will be ready. It also means that for credit card re-orders it would never fall foul of any other 30 day or whatever rules.

Of course if ED's or mfk's shops can take some of the credit card re-orders that would be a great solution.

 

[Mjlink]

$400 should be in the UK account tomorrow or Friday via bank transfer.

It cost me $45US to do this through Bank of Amerika. I lost $66 on currency fluctuations on the refund.

I just want this to go a bit smoother now that I'm outta lube.

Quit bitchin about no finished product, delays, etc. The finish line is in view.

Peace & Danks always

Link

 

[Buzzy42]

The whole situation does suck for all involved... I don't envy the Pandora team trying to straighten this out.

Being in the US, an international bank transfer is really, really difficult to progress through. I would think maybe trying to get a few other distributors/stores involved might be the best to offload the orders? (I don't mean they even have to be separate entities, but just something in the US that we could pay with a CC easily)

Of course, this is all moot for me as I have yet to receive my original refund yet! And since it was on a credit card I don't really "see" the money until after a billing cycle or two (as in "money I don't pay on the next bill"-- it's not like money goes into my bank account), and it's not like I have cash just laying around this time of year for a reorder. To re-purchase with a CC, it would take the money right back from my refund so it wouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, the refund money is just a credit on my account, it's not like I can call up Amex and ask for a check.

 

[emcp]

luckily, luck was on my side for once

i havnt gotten a reorder mail, live in uk and hasnt appeared in any statements yet, (another one is coming out)

however heres my views

people shouldnt be ruling out paypal that quickly, when it might end up being the only choice

Cheques, i dont know what kind of protection they give, but i doubt they give any at all

was it not stated that costs of bank transfer will be covered (even though this is really going to hit the team)

is it possible that people could stop stating the absolute obvious such as open a NA account, do you not think this was looked into (it was also commented on above)

the team is seriously losing support, the first pandora better be built within this week, as was said we do need somthing good, and the videos were nice but not that good, and the upgrade was nice, but you cant expect it to keep people going this long

i think asking for something for free with the pandora, is literally taking them to the cleaners

also why would you want a signed pandora !

anyway there was a few other things i was going to say but i forget
overall this project is falling apart and fanboyism just pisses people off, and those who are fanboys are idiots, im sorry but its the truth, you can have a bit of faith to use bank transfer but some of the fanboy comments are just pure stupid, as if the team cant do anything wrong, and comments such as, no matter what i know theyre deliver it, you dont so stfu

anyway im looking forward to receiving my pandora, i do feel sorry for the pandora team, but i also feel a bit annoyed a few of the things that have occured could have been avoided

anyway i look foward to developing few games on the pandora

YES, i think its time a official email is sent out (carefully worded), not everyone visits this forum, and delays up to now have been somewhat acceptable without word, but now all consumers need to know.

 

[Pleng]

Hello everyone,

As you may have noticed we have not started the reordering yet for Credit Card orders. This is because of a frustrating new problem caused by this 'world wide banking crisis' crap.

We can't get permission to accept such a large amount of money via credit cards - and believe me we have been trying hard. So because some drunken city traders pissed away all the banks money we get told we can't run a business as we have been running it for the last 5 years. Ie we can no longer accept all orders via credit cards.

Well there really is no nice way to say this, and I kinda wish I didn't have to, but: I simply don't believe that.

Or rather I don't believe we're hearing both sides of the story. Why are you having such problems Craig? There must be plenty of companies around who have been trading for shorter periods than you who are dealing with MUCH higher turnover, all with credit cards. If the banks were telling EVERY business that only 40% of their trade could be done via Credit Cards then there would be stories plastered all over the internet about it.

Anyway... on to possible solutions:

• Set up a shopping cart which offers PayPal, Protex, NoChex, Google Checkout and as many online merchant accounts as you can think of.
• Have a script on said site which will only allow 10 orders via each method on each day.
• Once ten orders have been taken by a particular payment method, it no longer becomes available from the cart.
• Once all the payment methods have been exahusted for the day, a message is put up saying 'We are unable to process payments today. Please try again tomorrow.

You should be able to accept 50+ payments a day that way and not raising too much activity on any one merchant's radar. If one merchant decides to get the arse then it's only a much smaller problem to deal with.

Once 60% of the orders have been placed with the merchants then you can open up orders to credit cards using your normal system.